Community members gather in support of over 700 students who were duped by 'ghost' immigration consultants in a protest in Mississauga on June 14.Christopher Katsarov/The Globe and Mail
Ottawa is being urged to crack down on an immigration scam where people hoping to find jobs in Canada are being forced to pay tens of thousands of dollars to potential employers – and a fee to immigration consultants – to find jobs here.
The federal Immigration Department last year altered regulations to try to put a stop to employers charging people fees for a job in Canada under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, which is designed to fill jobs where no Canadians or permanent residents are available for the role.
But immigration experts say that, despite the clampdown by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, some temporary foreign workers are still being exploited and made to pay large sums to secure a job in Canada.
The Globe and Mail has spoken to immigration consultants, lawyers and immigrants concerned about the scam where would-be immigrants pay to get a Canadian employer to apply for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), a document showing there is a need for a temporary foreign worker. Once an employer obtains the LMIA from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), the worker can apply for a work permit.
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The Globe also found open discussions on social media, including by an immigration consultant, talking about people in India paying to obtain an LMIA job.
LMIAs are used to fill a wide variety of vacancies: unskilled jobs, including those in the catering, hospitality and retail sectors, as well as semi-skilled and skilled jobs.
The federal government told The Globe and Mail it was aware of scams involving LMIA fraud, but had taken steps last year to guard against them with changes to regulations.
“Sectors identified as high risk for LMIA fraud receive an enhanced assessment to validate the employer’s business operations and the human resource needs,” Employment and Social Development Canada said in a statement.
Earl Blaney, a registered immigration consultant from London, Ont., said the demand for payment from migrants to get jobs in Canada was still “pervasive” and was also being used as a route to settling in Canada.
He said some foreign graduates who have studied in Canada but whose postgraduate work permits have run out are paying to stay in the country and get a semi-skilled LMIA job, such as a retail supervisor. Semi-skilled LMIA jobs confer 50 points toward obtaining permanent residence, he said.
Mr. Blaney said the temporary foreign workers program was set up to address labour-market shortages but has led to “profiteering” by some unscrupulous employers and immigration consultants who are splitting payments from immigrants.
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“The market rate is about $50,000, but they are selling them [LMIAs] for higher,” he said. “This is staple if you are trying to get to Canada. It’s pervasive. It’s not just India, its everywhere. It’s illegal for immigration consultants or lawyers to charge for this. But crooked consultants will start the process and they don’t even know if it is going to be approved by ESDC. If it is approved, the $5,000-$7,000 fee goes up to $40,000 to $70,000 to $80,000.”
Last year, the federal government brought in changes to regulations to make sure temporary foreign workers are not charged for their own recruitment.
“To mitigate concerns about the financial exploitation of temporary foreign workers, employers must commit to not charge or recover from workers any fees related to recruitment,” the IRCC said in a statement. “Employers must also ensure that any third party who recruits temporary foreign workers on their behalf does not charge or recover such fees from the temporary foreign workers.”
The changes to the regulations also ensure temporary foreign workers get an employment contract on their first day of work. It must match the offer of employment, with the same wages and working conditions.
But one immigration lawyer, whom The Globe is not naming as he feared reprisals, said some who paid to get an LMIA job have arrived here from India to find they have no employment, or have to work long hours for virtually no pay.
He said employers or consultants and lawyers are continuing to ask migrants to pay approximately $60,000 to $70,000 to come to Canada for employment.
He said individuals are often willing to pay such a high amount because they would otherwise not qualify for immigration through other pathways in Canada. The majority of the money goes to the employers and around $10,000 to $20,000 is taken by the lawyer or consultant who files the application for the LMIA, he said.
Work permit holders are willing to pay so much, and often struggle with rampant abuse in the hope of becoming a permanent resident, the lawyer added.
The IRCC said all employers submitting an LMIA application are subject to “a genuineness assessment.”
“The Government of Canada takes its responsibility to protect the health and safety of temporary foreign workers, as well as the integrity of the Temporary Foreign Worker [TFW] Program, very seriously. We are aware of cases where people are scammed. We have taken concrete actions to ensure this doesn’t occur,” it said in a statement.
Earlier this year Ottawa launched an inquiry into a scam involving international students who faced deportation after being given bogus acceptance letters from colleges by consultants.